Anti-Bullying Week 2011
Members of the Cornwall FA County Youth Welfare Forum are circulating copies of The FA’s Anti-Bullying Policy as part national Anti-Bullying week (14 to 18th November).
Clubs are being urged to ensure their coaches, managers, and volunteers know about the issue and advertise the policy, which explains that bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person and can be emotional and verbal as well as physical. The document gives clubs advice on how to proceed when a case of bullying has been reported and is available to download on the right.
There are links on the right to organisations who can help with this issue.
11 year old group member Nathanael Potts said, "Bullying is not a nice thing to do. When I was in year five, I was bullied. I think everyone who bullies should stop. If you tell someone you are being bullied, they will sort it out and you will feel better."
Abbie Carveth (11) added, "I would like to support anti-bullying week because I think if someone is being bullied it will help them and support them to speak up and say what’s wrong. I also think that it would make bullies aware that if they were bullied it would not be very nice, so that’s why I think that all of us should support anti-bullying week."
James Gallagher, 17 years old, "There are many different types of bullying including cyber, physical and verbal which are the main three. Anyone can be a bully from best friends to worst enemies. If someone is joking around and making fun of someone else who finds it hurtful and insulting then it is bullying. Bullying is always hurtful and is no joke.
"Bullying can result in anything from crying, trying to be brave, bullying another to make you feel better (becoming a bully) and in the worst cases suicide. If you are being bullied or see bullying you should report it to someone of value e.g. a teacher or parent. To report cyber bullying on social networking and communication sites there should be a ‘CEOP’ button. "
Nathaniel Johns, 10 years old: "I would like to support anti-bullying week because it is a terrible thing. It can really hurt people and their feelings. There are many types of bullying, cyber, personal and repetitive and physical. If you are being bullied within football and need someone to talk to contact your club welfare officer."
Genna Richardson, 14 years old: "I would like to support anti-bullying week because it’s not necessary and it puts pressure on other people. If someone is bullied for a long period they tend to become very self conscious maybe about what they look like or who their friends are. Nowadays lots of children are bullied both inside and out of school ie. clubs, after school clubs, parks etc. There are lots of different types of bullying eg emotional, physical, racist, sexual, and verbal. I strongly disagree with bullying and would like to support anti-bullying because I have been verbally bullied myself and I know how it feels."
James Springall, 17 years old: "Bullying is a form of aggressive behaviour which is abusive not only physically but also has a psychological side for the victim. Bullying can consist of mild verbal abuse but in extreme cases there can be repetitive physical and mental harm. Bullying must be stopped."
Cornwall FA County Welfare Officer Mandy Kimmins said, "The message from the members of the County Youth Welfare Forum is such a powerful one and I hope that it will go some way to help protect and support the 4,000 youth football players within Cornish football clubs from bullying.
“Recent figures state that 26 percent of children and young people were bullied outside of school last year and 44 per cent of child suicides have been linked to bullying incidents. One in three children or young people are deliberately cyber-bullied"
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The Forum is supported Cornwall FA County Welfare Officer, Mandy Kimmins, 3 adult Club Welfare officers and a Youth League Welfare Officer.
The first project was the national equality campaign Kick It Out. The details of the Forum's part is available on the right.